War Paint
by Biblio Lover
Summary: Ready. Aim. Fire. {Joker Origin}
1. Prologue

Prologue

**I Do Not Own Any DC Franchise, Only My Own OCs**

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Time. It always did seem to crawl at a agonizing pace when you are a child- And it did. No matter what, you would always focus on the next big thing to happen in your life and you would just sit there; Watching the minutes depressingly die and move onto the next. It was completely different when we're all grown up, just wishing that it would just stop for a moment and just for you to really appreciate the moment. Now it just all seems like someone has pressed the forward button on the remote. One moment you're there moving into your grandmother's home, the next you are on a plane to Iraq, going to fight for your country.

Her blue eyes studied the golden pocket watch that laid gently in her hand. How she adored the object that her grandmother possessed a few months ago, the only memento of her existence. Running a finger on the shiny surface, she smiled broadly at the blurred reflection of her skin. She knew such a piece would be valued for quite a fortune if she ever chose to sell it, but she knew that this was more than money can buy. Turning it over she briefly looked over the compass that was built in; The thin red magnetic needle twitching every now and then.

But the most intriguing topic about this was the music it created when opened up to the world. That sweet elegant music that haunted her ears when she thought about it; The bijou bells that coated underneath the ticking clock felt like it was done by the creator of music, a pure siren bliss to those who were interested in hearing the enchanted tale the notes described. She always made stories up when she rests in her bed in the night, the pocket watch placed on the midget table by her side. Her grandmother often placed it there for her when she ever got nightmares.

She always loved it when her grandmother told her, her versions of it the tale as she sat there on the rugged floor, jumping up and down slightly with excitement and a cookie to munch on when the journey started.

She really was going to miss that woman.

With a saddened sigh, she trailed her eyes to the small window that was to her left, stuffing the pocket watch in her uniform's pocket, wincing them when she viewed the outside world; The sun was almost down, giving the mesmerizing exotic colors of red to yellow shades to glow gloriously against the clouds, the ground far underneath, the plane... Her skin. Her skin felt like it was being warmly kissed by each ray that hit her bare skin, giving her a pure moment of a calming bliss. Moments like this truly made her feel like she was goddess.

"I'm tellin' you man," A hushed male's voice said from behind. "There **are** aliens out there... Watching us!" A couple of tapping noises were heard when he spoke, she guessed that he was poking the window to exaggerate his point. She could already feel her eyeballs just dying to give the most dramatic eye roll ever. All the time she would hear debates about the mysteries of the universe or even the mysteries of their own government. The 'extra terrestrial' debate was one of the most common to be said.

A man scoffed loudly. "Yeah right," A dull puff was given out by the other man. "If aliens really did exist, don't you think we would have proof of it. All photos of UFOs are either photo shopped or is just a piece of crap that was built in someone's basement. Also videos of 'Alien Sightings' were all just someone in some stupid costume. Aliens were just a myth to tell stories to four too nine year old- Nothing more, Erik."

"Ahah! That's where you're wrong, Dan. Ya' see the government **do** have proof... They just don't want people to find out about, it as it will cause moral panic across the world. I mean think about it... If you knew, after watching all of these movies where aliens are sent here to destroy the human race and all, that they do exist... Wouldn't there be just be absolute **anarchy**?" Erik came back with confidence. To her ears it sounded like he had said this many times and the words just seemed to know their way of persuasion. "And that, my friend, is one thing that the government cannot have anything that upsets the established order that is in society; **Chaos**."

The other man, Dan, was silent as he processed the words that left his friend's mouth. "Whatever man, I'm done about talking about it." Dan shuffled in his seat into a more comfortable position as a yawn escaped him, pulling his blanket closer to his body.

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" Erik tapped on her shoulder, startling her for a second before she turned to him, looking at the corner of her eyes through the gap of the seats at him. A goofy smile played on his lips, showing his top row of straight, nearly white teeth. "Do you have a napkin I can use, my nose is a bit runny from being on the flight for this long." She took in his appearance for the first time.

He was skinny, that was for sure, but nothing near to being anorexic, the military uniform did help him look a bit bigger than he actually was. His dark brown eyes made his pupils to look like they just melted in with his irises, brown shaven hair, long narrowed nose that was lightly painted with sweat, quite thin pink lips, skin a creamy shade but pink around the cheeks and other parts of the face.

"Er... yeah, hold on," She turned back to the empty seat next to her, which her duffel bag was sprawled out on. Unzipping it, she search inside one of the many pockets it had, digging quickly into it and fumbled around until she felt the familiar plastic cover. Biting her lip slightly, she brought out the small packet of Kleenex tissues, sliding them through the gap between the seats and into his hand. "Take the packet, I've got a load of here." Erik gave a 'Ah' sound and mumbled a 'Thanks' through the tissue that was covering his nose and mouth.

Erik dumped the used tissue on the little fold out plastic table that was embedded into the seat in front of him. "I'm Erik," Erik extended his hand through the gap, in which she shook when she saw it. "People call me 'Egg' for short." She looked at him with confusion of the nickname people gave him, Erik saw her facial expression and laughed awkwardly, rubbing his hands together while shrugging his shoulders. "It's because people have always called me clever and stuff... Get it? Egghead?... Egg?"

"Yeah, I get it," She said, trying to replace the sarcasm with a soft tone. "I'm Mackenzie," Mackenzie sucked in a long silent breath, nodding slightly as she continued. "But I'm more well known as Husky." Erik gaped at her in fascination.

"You're a WILD DOG!" Erik chucked up a laugh, his brown eyes shimmering with joy. "I've heard a lot about you, Husky." Mackenzie's eyes trailed to the rest of her row, some turned their heads slightly in annoyance from being woken up from Erik's slightly raised voice. A half smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"I didn't realize I was famous," Mackenzie stated as she returned her eyes to Erik, who leaned closer to the gap but was slightly straining his neck higher so that he could see her better. "I hope people have spoken good things about me." She joked.

Erik nodded. "Yeah, you're like a war hero, especially after the Mosul incident." Mackenzie's eyes slowly lowered themselves to look at the duffle bag, memories of that day come pooling in her mind. "Oh, sorry... Didn't mean to bring back bad memories." Erik frowned slightly, at the sudden sadness that portrayed her face. He didn't mean to make her sad, he just thought it would be a complement to her as she was the one who brought in one of the many warlords that needed to be taken in.

"Nah, don't worry about," Mackenzie waved her hand off in dismissal of the subject. "Many fellow soldiers get killed on the field, and that is one thing us saviors have got to get use too." And how use to it she was. It sometimes angered her so much that she would grit her teeth due to the fact that she can feel herself have no sympathy to those who have died and their families. It was just becoming too common to even take notice, it was just like breathing.

"Yeah," Erik said with disappointment laced in his words. "So...Where you come from anyway?"

"Originally England," Mackenzie said with no emotion, like it didn't matter at all, whilst Erik's eyebrows rose to its full height. "Liverpool. Y'know where The Beatles come from-"

"Yeah, yeah... I know," Erik sniggered silently, slightly surprised that she wasn't American. "But you don't have the accent." He remarked, pointing to his mouth.

"I moved to America when I was a teen, so I kinda adapted to the American accent quite quickly," Mackenzie tapped her knee, quite bored with the conversation and talking about herself. "How about you?" She asked.

"Me? Well, I lived in Ohio for most of my childhood, then moved to Metropolis. Nice city too; Very modern and all." Erik said with slight nods of his head and his eyebrows bunched up, causing lines to form on his forehead.

"Ah yes, Metropolis; The City of Tomorrow!" Mackenzie pronounced as a television presenter would- Filled with pride and enthusiasm. "Let's just hope that no big earthquakes hit there, because if any does..." Mackenzie expanded the distance of her hands, lowering them as they grew further apart, to demonstrate the buildings collapsing into rubble, whilst making a low dragging 'pff' sound. "It's about a hundred miles, or something like that, from where I currently live."

"And where's that?"

"Gotham City."

/

Looking back out the window, Mackenzie saw the night take it's throne upon Earth. Mackenzie always preferred the night than the day, as she found that at this time she became truly **alive**. To feel like all of her senses were increased by her high in the dark.

Turning her head back to look through the gap between the seats, she saw Erik snoring lightly with his chin at his chest, his skin on his neck scrunched up in little rolls. A soft tug at the lips came from her made its way up into a full smile at the sight of him, Erik reminded her a lot of her brother, Logan.

Reaching up to her chest, she applied pressure through her shirt, feeling her and his metal dog tags that she attached to her chain. At least this way he can be with her until judgment day came for her. Releasing a soft groan from the sudden ache in her chest, she reached for her water bottle, taking a sip of the clear liquid.

Her eyes tried to focus on anything that would make time fly by a bit but huffed when she saw that most defiantly that nearly everyone on the plane were already asleep. Seeming as now would be the best time to go, she unbuckled her seat-belt and walked towards the toilets that were a few rows behind her. She groaned at the stillness of her legs and how they groaned to be stretch and have blood flow through them.

When she slid open the metal door, she frowned at how cramped the room was, scrunching up her nose with the mildly but still noticeable urine smell that plagued the small room. Stepping inside, she made sure that she locked the door as the green plastic that was in the gap of the metal change to red.

When she was done, she pulled the flush and groaned in annoyance when it didn't flush. Trying again she made a sound of victory when the contents were finally gone when it flushed. She suddenly gasped as her body was then flung up in the air slightly, losing her balance her back slammed straight into the sink. She groaned at the impact and fluttered her eyes when the light above her flickered wildly.

"Damn turbulence." She muttered under her breath. Her ears peaked when she heard on of the pilots speak into the intercom, reassuring that they were currently experiencing was not severe and was predicted to last for another five minutes or so, but to make sure that all passengers should stay in their seats, due to how rough it was. _You better not jinx it, mate_

After drying her washed hands, she unlocked the door and slid it open, stepping out backwards. Only lose her balance again when another powerful strike came upon the plane, bumping into something hard and lumpy. She thought for a second that she bumped into another wall, sporting her to stand, when she looked down at her chest she saw an arm wrapped around her waist.

Someone else's arm.

Raising her eyes slowly, she reached the owner of the arm's face, but couldn't properly see it as a shadow cast over most of his face by the camouflaged hat he wore. She could feel the stranger's heavy gaze on her, scanning her face, whilst she slowly got into a standing position, a cold shiver ran through her but her body didn't make any signs of her being intimidated, which seemed to anger him, tilting his head slightly to the side. All she could vaguely see was the scar on his bottom lip that was curved into a frown. And just before she could see any more features of the stranger or say 'Thank you'...

He was gone.

Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, she glanced from the corner of her eye at the man who had saved her from tumbling down, walk his way through the aisle. She stood there, watching him until he sat down in his seat, unfortunately he was sitting where he was facing her, catching instantly that she was staring at him, she cursed under her breath.

Shaking her head, she turned her gaze from him and marched her way to her seat. She felt his burning stare burn right through her as she made her way, but resisted the urge to turn around and look at him again. She didn't want to look like she was by any means affected by him. Thankfully she felt much more at peace when she was at her window, surveying the now bright stars that seemed to be much nearer than how far they actually were. Mackenzie soon found herself be engulfed by darkness when her body slumped against the leather seat.

/

"Egg," A voice cooed by him, he only responded by giving a toss and turn in his position, a smile playing on his lips. "Erik," He then felt someone budge him slightly for a few times, each one got harder. He frowned as he felt himself return to reality but groaned in protest as he pulled the blanket closer to him. He smiled when he heard a long sigh come from the person. "YO' SHITBAG! WAKE UP!" The person shouted right next to his ear. That got him to jumped right up in his seat, giving a loud gasp as he quickly stood up, but groaned in pain when he slammed into the low ceiling. He looked to his left and saw Dan laughing at him, tears of laughter urging to come out. A few others watched what happened and snickered at Erik.

"What the hell man?" Erik hissed as he placed a hand to his head, wincing when he felt it stinging at the applied pressure. When Dan still continued to laugh uncontrollably, Erik pushed him slightly at Dan's shoulder as Erik sat back down.

Dan's laughter died down slowly, pointing to the window as he said, "We're here."

"What? Already?" Erik leaned forward to Dan to look out of the window. Indeed they were at their destination; As Salman, Iraq. It was beautiful outside with the sun blazing on the sandy ground and the sky a shade of blue that he only seen on pictures. "Wow." Erik gave a low whistle at the scenery before turning to Mackenzie, who was gazing at him with focused eyes.

"Morning sleeping beauty," Mackenzie tapped the more solid part of her military hat upwards, chewing on a chewing gum, giving a wolfish smile at him. "Your friend Dan here and I, were talking about you while you were asleep. You didn't tell me that you went to Harvard University." Erik rolled his eyes to Dan, who shrugged his shoulders in response and continued to gaze upon Mackenzie. Erik frowned when he saw the way Dan was looking at her- The stare of lust. He knew what Dan was like with wanting to get with a woman that appealed to his tastes then move onto the next. Hopefully Mackenzie would just reject him and he would try it with some other woman.

"_Good morning everyone, it will be five minutes before we land. Hope you had a comfortable journey with American Airlines."_ The pilot's voice came from the intercoms.

A sigh of relief came from Mackenzie as she strapped on the seat-belt that she earlier took off. "Thank the lord... I don't think my legs could handle much longer." Mackenzie laughed silently. She wasn't a fan of being in an plane for hours as it really did take its toll on her, not in the slightest. "Erik?" Erik turned to her, eyebrows raised. "I forgot to ask you... What's your last name?"

"Schiff."

Mackenzie's heart stopped.

"You wouldn't be related to a man who goes under the name _Thomas Schiff_... Right?" Mackenzie said in a slow dangerous tone. Erik fluttered his eyes for a second, cocking his head back. She could feel her body heat up from the pure anger of fact she just said his name, she just wished that Erik wasn't related to the bastard for his sake.

"He's my brother." Erik stated, his eyes focused on Mackenzie's hands that were clenching so tightly that her knuckles turned icily white. "Why?"

"He murdered my grandmother."

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**A/N: Had this idea for a while, needed to get it down. **

**Review if you want more **


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**I Do Not Own Any DC Franchise, Only My Own OCs**

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Erik said nothing, keeping his lips in a fine line, sad eyes that lowered themselves to the ground. "I'm sorry to hear that... I truly am," Erik shot his eyes back up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, in a caring manner but Mackenzie shrugged off his hand, frowning at him. "However **I** am not responsible for my brother's actions, Mackenzie," Erik felt like he was literally on two knees, begging at her. He knew full well that his brother had some mental issues that made him do morally wrong decisions, but he understood that it wasn't Thomas' fault either. Thomas was only doing what he thought was right by joining the military to fight for his country, only to have him turn into a paranoid schizophrenic.

Mackenzie breathed deeply through her nose as she turned her back to him, leaning his head back against the seat. "I didn't mean to take my anger out on you. It's just that... It's been hard to not hold a grudge," Erik nodded to himself, Dan shifting his eyes from Mackenzie's seat to Erik numerous times, processing the situation with a stunned face. "I'm sorry."

He knew that she wasn't truly sorry, as her tone was flat and uncaring when she spoke. But he now knew where he stood with her because of this, it would be difficult to actually become good friends with her if he ever wanted to make the effort to become close to her that is, but already he found it being the option of just not noticing that she exist a much easier path to walk.

Erik studied Mackenzie's body profile, seeing that her body seemed to be in a calm enough state for him to reach through the gap and placing a slim sweaty hand on her shoulder, shaking it in a caring manner. Mackenzie's body went stiff as she felt his hand on her, staring at it from the corner of her eye. He might not gain her trust in friendship due to his brother but he was not cold hearted to let go of the fact that she has obviously lost someone dear to her and not comfort her in any way. Erik detached his hand from her, laying it on the arm rest lazily.

Dan leaned over the arm rest to Erik, a smug smile on his face. "Well... That certainly was... Something." Dan whispered. Erik roughly punched his fist into Dan arm, muttering a promise of his death to be afflicted on him by a second if he continued to speak.

/

When the plane finally landed on the scorching land, Mackenzie found herself sitting in her seat until most of the other passengers left the plane, watching the people near her be squashed in the aisle as they reached for their bags above them. She did not turn when she heard the door open, the heat slowly crawling its way inside the aircraft, everyone becoming a herd of sheep as they traveled the aisle, following each other to the exit.

"You coming?" Mackenzie first shot her eyes to Erik, who had his camouflaged backpack slung over his shoulder, another duffel bag hanging in his grip. Erik tilted his head for a second, then returned it to its previous position. It was then that she realized Erik wasn't the one who spoke to her. Dan was behind him, looking at her with curiosity, keeping eye contact with her when she studied his body before she reunited her eyes with Erik.

"I'll catch up with you guys." Erik started to walk down the aisle after he rolled his eyes away from her, which she copied, scolding at herself for not thinking before speaking about the murderer of her grandmother.

"Okay then." Came Dan's enthusiastic reply as he followed his friend, occasionally bumping into the seats with his bags. Mackenzie continued to watch Erik from afar until he was out of the plane and into the blazing heat.

How she was going to loath the fact that she was in the same area with Thomas' brother, how every time she will talk (If he ever gives her the chance), look, think about Erik- The bastard will spring into mind and cause abomination from her.

Peeking her ears to sounds of voices that were loud enough for her to hear them over the engine's low mighty hum, she tilted her head towards the window, narrowed eyes searching the visible land populated with many others in uniform.

Her teeth increased their pressure against each other- Gritting till it became sore, fists clenching tight that her knuckles turned white and her muscles threatened to tear with the amount of strain that was brought upon them as pure hatred burst within her core and mind when her eyes laid upon one particular man in uniform.

Throughout the years of being in the military, he was the one soul that was the sharp pebble in her shoe and no matter how many times she tried to shake him off, he'll still be there.

"And here we go."

/

"I doubt she will like the idea of it, Captain." A man suggested to his superior, as he rested his intertwined hands behind his back, taking steady breaths as he prepared the man's response. He watched as the turbines finally died down and all that can be heard is distant voices of his fellow comrades giving orders to each other.

"Of course she won't," The Captain's gruff voice replied as his eyes narrowed down on Mackenzie's figure walking down the metal stairs, carrying duffel bags that were casually slung over her shoulder, making it look like the things almost weighed like a 5-yearold's lunchbox, dark tinted sunglasses covered her eyes as she descended down the steps. "Prepare a vehicle to go, Lieutenant Shepherd." Shepherd nodded, and gave a quick 'Yes Sir' before marching his way to where many of the trucks were.

The Captain watched as Mackenzie strolled towards him, stopping when she was breaching a distance where she felt disgusted to be in the same meter radius from him. Even with the tinted sunglasses he felt her unnerving stare towards him as she held her posture incredibly straight and trained on to be intimidating. The Captain in return squinted his eyes as he noticed that the middle-eastern sun looked like it was on top of her, but nevertheless forced his eyes to stay trained on her, fighting to be the most intimidating.

Mackenzie knew The Captain. He knew he craved whatever power he can gain by getting at others that simply threatened to insult his role. She merely cannot get enough joy from ruining his ego.

Slowly taking off the sunglasses, her enchanting eyes soared through his. A smirk tugged at his lips when she saw the slight movement of his shoulders descending down, and his aged eyes blinked rapidly.

Growing weak and bored of the showdown, he made to walk away and motioned for her to follow. A faint chuff could be heard from her as she placed her sunglasses back on and followed him.

Mackenzie watched as the many privates crowded around one area, all of them set in numerous of rows as few soldiers shouted out names on the list on their clipboards, one private going at a time. As she continued to watch she couldn't help but stare at one in particular; He was at least nineteen as signs of fresh spots appeared on the sides of his face, and slight greasy skin was still was very visible. It was either that or sweat from the heat. She felt as if she was in a trance as she continued her exploration with her eyes.

Almost as if he knew she was staring at him, he turned his head slightly towards her, looking at her from the corner of his eye. When they made that eye connection something in her abdomen lurched with pity as she observed him, and could very well tell the life he had gone through. The way he just held himself with his arms crossed around his chest, his legs widely apart, the tapping from his fingers on his arm, the honest feeling of uncertainty from his grey eyes.

She could practically write a biography about him from that one look. A biography that will be short lived on popularity that is and probably stacked at the back of shelves, hiding in the shadows.

Feeling a lump form in her throat, she quickly swallowed it down and tried to make her mind go on something else that won't make her just run up to him and beg for him to go home and live, rather than be here in this hell hole.

"Ferus!" Mackenzie snapped her head to the voice that she loathed so much that she flared her nostrils at him when she found that not only was she entranced by the sight of the boy before by that she had completely stopped where she was, and that The Captain had one foot inside the vehicle he ordered for, his hand clamped around the car's passenger window and his body half turned to her. "Were you even listening!"

"When do I ever?" She barked back.

"I swear one day that mouth of yours will end with you being pointed at by some gun in the hands of some psychopath." The Captain replied as he slammed the door closed, and leaned his head towards the window. "I'll have Lieutenant Shepherd tell you what your new duties will be for the next few months." Mackenzie creased her brows at him, as he fastened his seatbelt and ordered to the driver to 'floor it'.

Mackenzie coughed slightly as the sand and dust that whirled from the truck's wheels spread all around her. "New duties?" She murmured to herself as she briefly watched the vehicle drive away and fade from her sights.

"Do you ever not piss that man off?" A very familiar voice came from behind her. Mackenzie found that before she could stop herself, she was giving the biggest grin that she had almost thought she could no longer do to herself.

"Do you ever not get pissed off by that man?" She joked as she spun around to face her close friend, Lieutenant Shepherd, showing his pearly whites at her. Shepherd strode towards her until he was merely inches apart, arms crossed as he looked at her with seriousness.

Soon that mask slipped away and Mackenzie found herself trapped in his arms that were around her shoulders and neck, both chest to chest. "I missed ya' kiddo'" Shepherd's voice was like pure golden honey, and always made her body relax. Mackenzie responded in kind by wrapping her arms around his back, patting it with honest comfort.

"God, so have I."

/

"So let me get this straight- You, out of all people, started it." Mackenzie awed at Shepherd. Shepherd nodded with pride, but soon the pair were both roaring with laughter.

Mackenzie wiped tears of laughter from her eyes with her thump as the laughter died down between the both, her chest felt the friction that the seatbelt had caused when she laughed. Shepherd continued to chuckle lightly but found it difficult to fully concentrate on keeping the truck full of soldiers, Mackenzie and himself on the road.

"Hey, in my defiance I did tell him to stay out of it."

"You started a fist fight with the coach, because you punched your daughter's ex-boyfriend when he was 'harassing' her during a basketball game. Mate, you seriously need to know the when to control those demons of yours... And to know what the difference is of apologizing and harassing." Mackenzie glanced at the sun that was starting to go down. It had been a busy few hours of sorting everything out back at the military airport. Mackenzie and Shepherd found themselves staying behind until everything was sorted and no one was still left there.

It was of until she was half way in the truck that she was unaware of Erik being at the back of the truck she herself was going to be in. At least she wasn't in the same section of the truck, she and Shepherd were in their own private space.

"All this time I always thought of you to be this gentle giant." Mackenzie joked.

"At least everyone in that school now knows not to mess with a Shepherd."

"You got that right." Mackenzie chuckled as she adjusted herself in the seat, giving a quick look through the window behind them, spotting Erik immediately. Her eyes narrowed down on his sweaty face as he seemed to be talking to someone of the opposite aisle from him, someone who wasn't in the line of sight for her. At least he was getting to know others, that was one thing she could be happy for him.

"Your new boyfriend?" Shepherd bantered as he glanced at Mackenzie's face mixed of emotions that he rarely saw from her, but could easily see that she took interest in someone that was in the truck.

Mackenzie burrowed her brows at him and frowned. "What? No, of course not!" Mackenzie plopped back into her seat and lowered her head. "He was someone I aquatinted with when we were on the flight here."

"Ah, so you found yourself a best friend," Shepherd placed a hand to his hand in a fake hurtful gesture. "I'm hurt."

Mackenzie rolled her eyes, smirking at his antics. "Yeah well, let's just say that we didn't have the best conversation ever." Shepherd diverted his eyes to her and motioned for her to continue before turning his eyes back to the road. "He's the brother of my grandmother's murderer."

"How did you find that out?"

"He said his name was Erik Schiff...that surname isn't very popular around the north-east of the U.S. and you can tell that we didn't migrate from Germany because his American accent is too developed and pure. So my mind instantly went to ask him the question."

"And every time you look at him, you think of the murderer?" Mackenzie nodded. Shepherd clicked his tongue at the top of his mouth, debating on what to say next. "Listen kid... You gotta' get your mind around the fact that he isn't his brother. He is better. He fights for our country, fights for freedom for others, he is saving it just like you and I. And for that, every time you look at this guy... You should be thanking him for risking his life for others, and in a world like this- We sure need guys like Erik over there."

Mackenzie stared at Shepherd from the corner of her eye, as he continued staring out onto the road as if he was lost in his speech, and she could tell that it wasn't only advice for her but advice he should have listened to in the past.

Shepherd was right.

Mackenzie needed to talk to Erik.

* * *

**I know it's been long, and I know this ain't a very exciting chapter but I ensure you that there is so much to come in future chapter. Also a little warning that I will be posting updates when I can, as I have found myself very busy with school work and a lack of insperation and energy to actually write the thing. But I can't wait to hear what you readers are thinking about the story so far, I take all judgements as everyone deserves the right to say their own opinions on any subject.**

**HUGE THANKS TOO: dltrott24 and jokestaplease  
**

**I know this is what everyone writer puts on but please, if you can... Review to this story or PM me. It's these kind of things that honestly gives me the motivation to continue on writing. **


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